(Meter Installation. Photo by Naijaonpoint)
To bridge the metering deficit, the federal government plans to train 5,000 meter installation nationwide.
In a statement released in Abuja on Friday, Olu Verheijen, Executive Secretary of the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) and Special Advisor to the President on Oil and Gas, made this claim.
According to Verheijen, the nation’s endeavor to increase the distribution of seven million smart meters included the training as well.
She spoke at the inauguration of the Power Force programme being implemented by PMI, which was launched by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.
She said the inauguration also featured the unveiling of the first batch of selected applicants who would undergo a three-week intensive practical and classroom training in Abuja, disclosing that close to 220,000 submissions were received from interested young Nigerians across the country during the application period.
She described PMI as the largest metering programme in Nigeria’s history, established under President Tinubu’s leadership, explaining that the goal was to address one of the biggest barriers to a reliable electricity sector by ensuring that every Nigerian pays only for the electricity they actually use.
She noted that while one young installer cannot transform Nigeria, five thousand can inspire fifty thousand, and fifty thousand can in turn inspire millions more, describing this as how movements begin one opportunity, one person and one act of service at a time.
She added that following the Abuja launch, the training would expand to various centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, and that upon completion, trainees would receive formal certification by NEMSA as qualified meter installers who have met national and international competence and safety standards.
In his address, Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, said PMI was not just about fixing the finances of the power sector through metering but also about impacting the lives of young Nigerians through training and skills development.
Abdulrazaq, who is Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and also chairs the PMI board, was represented by Mr Edmund Nnaji, Executive Director, Finance and Administration at the NGF, and used the occasion to call on fellow governors to support the Power Force initiative.
The Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, said that behind every successful metering programme must stand thousands of competent, certified and dedicated technicians, noting that the 5,000 young Nigerians being trained under the initiative would become the backbone of Nigeria’s smart metering workforce.
He said the initiative demonstrates that the country’s electricity reforms are not merely about equipment and technology but equally about creating opportunities, building human capital and securing livelihoods.
Tegbe also commended the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) for withdrawing a court action it had instituted against the meter deployment programme, saying the decision had removed a significant obstacle to the accelerated deployment of electricity meters across the country.
Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, said the Power Force programme was directly supporting his ministry’s “One Youth, Two Skills” initiative, describing it as more than just the launch of a training programme but as an effort to create jobs and opportunities for Nigerian youths to contribute to national development.
He added that President Tinubu’s administration has demonstrated that Nigeria’s federal ministries, departments and agencies can work together in ensuring the dividends of democracy reach everyone in the country.
